Dipanjan Chakraborty
Co-Founder & CEO
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Dipanjan sheds light on his educational and professional background, his leadership app-roach and success mantra, and much more.
Could you give a brief account of your professional background and experiences?
I was never interested in studies during my childhood and even failed in class 11th. However, this failure made me work hard on my studies. I ranked 18th at the state level in the 12th standard board exams and even came in the top 100 in the West Bengal JEE. I have done my B. Tech in Computer Science from Jadavpur University and later, my Master's and PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I always wanted to become a top scientist in computer science in India and contribute to the growth of my country. So, I returned and joined IBM Research in 2004.
During my tenure of more than a decade at IBM, I have written over 80 technical papers and 20 patents at various conferences that have led to more than 6000 plus citations, got several outstanding innovation awards, and even got funded to take the prestigious executive leadership curriculum at Cornell University, USA. However, I was not happy with my corporate job. In my quest to find creative freedom, I decided to pursue entrepreneurship. That's how RESELLME was born.
How would you define RESELLME as an organization and its current position in the market?
RESELLME was born out of my quest for freedom, to innovate, and to create a big impact in the Indian market space. We, At RESELLME, are using the e-commerce space to create jobs and empower women while solving an important problem for the large number of micro-brands and larger brands in India. The entire operation is a new take on e-commerce, where we are creating a D2C distribution network for millions of brands online by empowering homemakers and housewives, who have the aspiration to work and generate income.
We are the only platform empowering women to directly operate as personal resellers of brands. Through these homemakers, brands try to sell their products while building their branding and online distribution network across their target geographies and customer segments. Currently, RESELLME is in its early stages and has the potential to create a huge impact in Indian e-commerce like Flipkart and Meesho.
Tell us about your leadership approach. How has been your path to success and what is your success mantra?
A fundamental focus that I apply to myself is that even before leading a team, first, a leader should be able to lead himself /herself. At RESELLME, we follow a mantra that says 'We are all CEOS at our own desks'. We don't follow the typical Indian top-down corporate hierarchy. Instead, we follow a flat hierarchy, where the CEO is at the center, with the employees and leadership spread around it. To come towards the center, you have to be more responsible, handle business pressure, and excel at leading others. As a leader,you also have to be consistently focused on self-growth. Be aware of your responsibilities towards yourself as well as others that are being led by you.
My success mantra has always been to try to be the best in whatever I try to do. This has been something that has driven me throughout my journey. Also, being aware of the fact that nothing comes easy has been one of my major driving forces. But at the same time, I try to be the best in whatever I do. The second aspect is being able to work with some of the greatest minds. I also had the luxury of working with, interacting with, and learning from some of the brightest minds in India.
How do you keep yourself up-to-date with ongoing industry trends to steer your organization towards the future?
I follow market reports but take them with a pinch of salt as they
We are the only platform empowering women to directly operate as personal resellers of brands. Through these homemakers, brands try to sell their products while building their branding and online distribution network across their target geographies and customer segments. Currently, RESELLME is in its early stages and has the potential to create a huge impact in Indian e-commerce like Flipkart and Meesho.
Even before leading a team, a leader first should be able to lead himself/ herself
Tell us about your leadership approach. How has been your path to success and what is your success mantra?
A fundamental focus that I apply to myself is that even before leading a team, first, a leader should be able to lead himself /herself. At RESELLME, we follow a mantra that says 'We are all CEOS at our own desks'. We don't follow the typical Indian top-down corporate hierarchy. Instead, we follow a flat hierarchy, where the CEO is at the center, with the employees and leadership spread around it. To come towards the center, you have to be more responsible, handle business pressure, and excel at leading others. As a leader,you also have to be consistently focused on self-growth. Be aware of your responsibilities towards yourself as well as others that are being led by you.
My success mantra has always been to try to be the best in whatever I try to do. This has been something that has driven me throughout my journey. Also, being aware of the fact that nothing comes easy has been one of my major driving forces. But at the same time, I try to be the best in whatever I do. The second aspect is being able to work with some of the greatest minds. I also had the luxury of working with, interacting with, and learning from some of the brightest minds in India.
How do you keep yourself up-to-date with ongoing industry trends to steer your organization towards the future?
I follow market reports but take them with a pinch of salt as they
don't contain ground reality. Instead,
I believe in having direct conversations with experts, which helps me gain maximum information regarding the ongoing industry trends. Having a top-down view of the latest market trends also helps you stay updated. Apart from that, being a part of one of the unique e-commerce platforms also helps me understand the market at the ground level. While working with brands as well as homemaker resellers, we try to understand these brands' demands, the various options these homemakers opt for to earn their target amount in a month, how we can help them adapt to reselling as a job, and so on. All of this information helps us stay abreast of current market trends.
Tell us about the unique experiences Jadavpur University offers and what you learned from the campus beyond academics. What is the future destination you are heading towards?
It was never about the courses per se. But on the soft skill side, having the confidence to take the world on came during Jadavpur University. I was one of those students who are not bookworms but take their learning seriously. Another important lesson I learned from all the bright students around me was always to take it easy while also working hard. Life is not just about working hard.
As a long-term driven guy, I have a vision of making a huge impact in India by impacting both lives and industries. Currently, I am working on disrupting the Indian e-commerce landscape where millions of women are empowered to work for brands. I also aspire to bring more focus to the mental health space by making the masses aware of the importance of mental health. Apart from that, I also want to build a brand identity for myself as an innovator. I want to be known as an innovator, creating impactful innovations in the country.
Dipanjan Chakraborty, Co-Founder & CEO, Resellme
A tech-researcher-turned-entrepre-neur, Dipanjan is considered one of the top scientists in India in the field of Computer Science, contributing over 80 technical papers and 20 patents that have led to more than 6000 plus citations. Currently, he is working as the CoFounder & CEO at the Delhi-based reseller network management and discovery platform for brands, RESELLME. An inspiring leader and a strong advocate of mental wellness, Dipanjan has done his B. Tech in Computer Science from Jadavpur University and his Master's and PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
•Hobbies: Watching Netflix, Knowing people
•Favorite Cuisine: Homemade food
•Favorite Book: No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert A.Glover
•Favorite Travel Destination:
Corfu, Greece
I believe in having direct conversations with experts, which helps me gain maximum information regarding the ongoing industry trends. Having a top-down view of the latest market trends also helps you stay updated. Apart from that, being a part of one of the unique e-commerce platforms also helps me understand the market at the ground level. While working with brands as well as homemaker resellers, we try to understand these brands' demands, the various options these homemakers opt for to earn their target amount in a month, how we can help them adapt to reselling as a job, and so on. All of this information helps us stay abreast of current market trends.
Tell us about the unique experiences Jadavpur University offers and what you learned from the campus beyond academics. What is the future destination you are heading towards?
It was never about the courses per se. But on the soft skill side, having the confidence to take the world on came during Jadavpur University. I was one of those students who are not bookworms but take their learning seriously. Another important lesson I learned from all the bright students around me was always to take it easy while also working hard. Life is not just about working hard.
As a long-term driven guy, I have a vision of making a huge impact in India by impacting both lives and industries. Currently, I am working on disrupting the Indian e-commerce landscape where millions of women are empowered to work for brands. I also aspire to bring more focus to the mental health space by making the masses aware of the importance of mental health. Apart from that, I also want to build a brand identity for myself as an innovator. I want to be known as an innovator, creating impactful innovations in the country.
Dipanjan Chakraborty, Co-Founder & CEO, Resellme
A tech-researcher-turned-entrepre-neur, Dipanjan is considered one of the top scientists in India in the field of Computer Science, contributing over 80 technical papers and 20 patents that have led to more than 6000 plus citations. Currently, he is working as the CoFounder & CEO at the Delhi-based reseller network management and discovery platform for brands, RESELLME. An inspiring leader and a strong advocate of mental wellness, Dipanjan has done his B. Tech in Computer Science from Jadavpur University and his Master's and PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
•Hobbies: Watching Netflix, Knowing people
•Favorite Cuisine: Homemade food
•Favorite Book: No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert A.Glover
•Favorite Travel Destination:
Corfu, Greece